Apep and the Sacred Scrolls of Duat
by history101
Summary: In the Afterworld of Egypt, the evil serpent; Apep, is stirring and, when he allies with a vengeful soul, Pharaoh Atemu's afterlife is dangerously threatened. When the world seems darkest, the loyalties of the real Gods of Egypt are revealed, and we see if true friendships really bow to death. I don't own any rights to Yu-Gi-Oh. Not slash.
1. A Stirring in the Underworld

Apep and the Sacred Scrolls of Duat.

Chapter 1: A Stirring in the Underworld.

* * *

In the middle of an ancient desert, amidst the shifting sands and the shimmering air lay a large settlement of hundreds of small houses with interweaving canopies of coloured fabric to block out the sun. There was lush, green plant life and a large, life giving river of purest blue to match the sky. In the centre of the settlement stood the proud palace of the King, begun by an avenue of sphinxes and cornered by obelisks and grand states of gods and kings. The entirety of the settlement was encircled by an outer wall of dusty gold and it rivalled any mirage or dream of paradise granted by the gods.

This sacred land of Egypt was protected by the powerful Gods which were revered throughout the world, but on the horizon, darkness lurked. A darkness banished to the shadows by the Gods now slithered in the sacred sands of Duat on the borders of Pharaoh's kingdom. It threatened the souls of the dead with fear and eternal darkness. (*1)

It crawled out from the darkest region of hell and its poisoned, pointed teeth hissed forwards as it moved ever closer. Its scales were made of pure shadows and its eyes were pure black which brought the darkness with them wherever it went. A snake, a snake made from evil, designed to intimidate and to destroy and it was now, somehow free of its prison, free to wander the dunes of the desert, and free to gorge itself on the souls of the dead.

"Hold your ground! These foul beasts must not breach these sacred walls!" cried priest Seto, sacred guardian of Pharaoh's court.

He was stood at the far walls of the Egyptian capital with soldiers at the ready and his own shadow creature and ka, the almighty, Duos at his side ready to fight.

"Sir, mortal weapons are useless against this," one of the soldiers told him in fear.

"No matter what we do, we cannot win," another said.

"This evil does not belong here and it is our duty to defeat it," Seto narrowed his eyes and they snapped to attention once more.

In truth the holder of the Millennium rod was very worried. This was the fifth time the dark creatures had attempted to breach the walls of the city and each time, the snapping jaws of the serpents grew ever closer. The foul demon of the afterworld was not meant to touch the souls of the blessed, and for centuries it had not dared to try, but now something was wrong. Something had changed and it meant bad news for the souls residing in Pharaoh's kingdom.

Together with Spiria, Two Headed Jackal Warrior, Illusion Magician, Curse of Dragon, Dark Magician Girl and Black Luster Soldier, Seto's Duos watched with anticipation from separate vantage points, as the golden sand in the distance was polluted by the shadows, turning it into a blackened and withered dust, marring the landscape. It stirred up a strong wind which created a sandstorm, shaking the very foundations of the buildings and loudly rustling the leaves of the plants. It blew away the hanging, cotton canopies of the houses and showered dust across the land, making it difficult to see as it moved silently over the dunes and towards the walls of the sacred city.

Once it was within mere metres of the walls, the shadowed serpents reared in a terrify display of power, spitting up clumps of blacked sand and tossing the wind with their tails. They hissed and snarled at the people behind the walls and the thousands of black eyes all narrowed simultaneously in excitement.

"Duos, Aura Sword!" Priest Seto yelled. The shadow creature spread its large wings and took to the air as it raised the large sword in it hand. With a confident battle cry the creatures sword let out a burst of shining light against the shadowed serpents. It hit its target with a loud 'crack' like thunder, and the shadows screamed in pain and anger.

Around the city limits, Seto could see the other shadow creatures attacking also, and the serpents were soon inundated with attacks. The soldiers fired pointed arrows, flaming rubble, and long spears in retaliation while Black Luster Soldier and Illusion Magician attacked at the front lines side by side.

"Dark Magic Attack!" shouted the Dark Magician Girl as she flew quickly upwards to avoid being engulfed by serpents. Spiria flew forwards at once in a blur of white feathers as she formed a strong shield from her pale blue hands in front of the Dark Magician Girl. She saluted the winged female creature with a smile then continued her own attacks.

Meanwhile, Two Headed Jackal Warrior crashed over the sand below, barreling into the shadow serpents with its dual bladed axe and shield with loud battle cries of exhilaration. Karim's Curse of Dragon flew above it, setting alight any serpents that dared to threatened the ka of its master's friend, when suddenly, a serpent wrapped around one of its wings, brining it crashing to the ground. From his vantage point, Karim grimaced as he felt his creatures' pain as his own and he fell to his knee, breathing heavily.

"I call forth The Magician of Black Chaos!" the king yelled, "Chaos sceptre blast!" The tall, and mysterious Magician of Black Chaos floated down immediately from where it had appeared to aid the Curse of Dragon in its plight. It attacked using the dark sceptre it wielded and the serpents surrounding the Dragon were vanquished.

Slowly, piece by piece, the shadows were illuminated and the serpents were forced to retreat back over the desert leaving a wave of dark destruction of what was once pure golden sand in its wake. And the people rejoiced at the power of the king and his loyal guardians and celebrations immediately sprung up around the ancient capital; the magically enhanced walls of the city had not been breached...yet.

But the celebrations didn't extend to the great Pharaoh or his powerful guardians as they swiftly retreated deep into the city and back into the palace. They gathered immediately in the throne room regardless of their exhaustion.

Pharaoh Atemu sat in his throne with the sacred guardians stood around him; Mahad, Shada, Karim, Isis, and Seto all stood rigidly with concern as Mana leaned against one of the pillars. Shimon stood to the king's right with his hands clasped formally behind his back. The pervious number of six guardians had been one short for thousands of years; the soul of Pharaoh's uncle and sixth guardian had been confined to the pits of shadows by the Gods themselves and the Millennium eye lay deep underground in the impregnable vaults bellow the palace.

Pharaoh had entertained the idea of giving Mana guardianship of the item, but she needed years of hard training to master its power first, and now was not the time to begin such a rigorous training régime. Not when such a threat as this was looming so near.

"What news of the summons?" the king asked quickly.

A short while ago. He'd deemed it wise to send summons to as many neighbouring rulers as possible to consider an alliance to fight this evil, because, it wasn't just the souls of his people this demon was threatening. It had attacked and destroyed villages in Cannan, leaving its people to flee to Egyptian borders. He'd heard tell from travels and traders of the dark serpents feeding from the souls of the Hyksos and the Libyans. He'd heard tales of woe from the people of Punt and Kush, and from the farthest reaches; the Sea Peoples had been threatened as well.

Pharaoh Atemu ruled the Egyptian underworld and his people; the souls of the good who'd ever worked his land lived anew. It was powerfully guarded by snakes and gods who answered only to him to grant entry to the dead and each name of every soul was recorded in the magical scrolls of Duat.

"King Pahare and his Guardians from Punt answered immediately, Pharaoh," Karim answered, "They will arrive within the next few days." (*2)

"And the others? King Teresh of the Sea People?" Atemu asked eagerly.

"Reluctant," Seto said, "But they answered and they too will speak."

"The people of Kush are perhaps the most reluctant of all," Mahad sighed. "They will never agree to an alliance, or even a truce."

"To refuse would be to condemn his people to the darkness," Isis frowned.

"King Nasaten the nasty only cares about his pride," Mana said frankly.

"And this is why you are banned from speaking at court, Mana," Mahad sighed at his pupil.

"I'm the only one who says what you're all thinking," the young female magician pouted.

"Mana," the Pharaoh warned and she sighed but said no more and he turned once more to his loyal guardians, "The Hyksos - King Sehuqure is a resonable man, what of them?"

"They have chosen to retain the right of silence, my king," Shada answered gravely, "However, with their recent losses I don't doubt that we shall hear from them soon. With the history of our two countries it would be unwise to press the matter more than we already have."

"We don't have the time to waste on diplomacy," the king growled quietly in frustration. He clenched his fists in anger and turned to the wearer of the Millennium necklace, "Isis, what do you see?" he asked in a semblance of control.

Isis, the sole female Guardian of Pharaoh's court, and beautiful bearer of the Millennium necklace, held her hands around the sacred, golden eye of wedjet and closed her own eyes. The necklace began to emit a shining golden light as she spoke, "I see a blanket of shadows descending over all of Egypt...it is clouded and uncertain...but my king...I see great danger for us all...for you..."

"From whom?" Mahad asked her.

"I cannot see," she shook her head sadly, "He is hidden in the Pit of Fire by Apep." (*3)

"Where would it get the power to do this?" Karim asked.

"Perhaps from the souls of the damned," Shada suggested.

"But why do this now?" Shimon frowned.

"That's the mystery, isn't it?" Mana shrugged with confusion.

"We don't have the luxury of pondering mysteries," the Pharaoh said, "We need answers; no one is safe until we stop this."

"My Pharaoh you must be cautious," Isis began, "The serpent forever seeks the souls of kings to banish the light."

"I know," Atemu nodded, sitting forwards in his throne, "However, I will not hide from this menace, not while the souls of my people are in danger."

"What of the scrolls, Pharaoh?" Shimon asked suddenly.

"Names are disappearing," the king answered sadly, "The Sacred Scrolls are not meant to be tampered with, and yet someone is altering them."

"I thought no one was able to touch them anyway," Mana said.

"They can't," Shada told her confidently, "They are shielded from the touch of mortals. Only the gods and the Pharaoh may use them."

"If those scrolls are destroyed it will mean the end of every soul in Duat," Mahad added heavily.

"They cannot be destroyed," said Seto with his typical confidence.

Usually this confidence inspired a fond smile from the king, but now was the exception; this was not the time for brash confidence. Now was the time to find answers, and they wouldn't do that by being overconfident.

"They cannot be altered either," said the king, "But something is doing that as we speak."

"My king, I suggest we seek out the serpent and destroy it without delay, it has proven to have no respect for the palace or the Gods," Seto replied and Mahad sighed.

It was Seto's answer to every problem; 'seek and destroy.' Granted the priest had power and he could easily defend himself, but 'seek and destroy' was not the solution to every problem. Even in death the man hadn't yet learned that lesson. Mahad even wondered if the man could learn that at all.

"No," the Pharaoh replied quickly, "It's too dangerous, we need to first discover why this is happening; attacking without knowledge of our enemy could leave us vulnerable."

"But I..." Seto sighed, "...As you say, Pharaoh," he acquiesced.

"With each attack it gets closer to the city," Shimon thought aloud, "And our monsters cannot hold it back forever."

"We have already enforced the walls with powerful magic," Mahad said, meaning himself and the other magicians of the court, including the king himself.

"But the serpent has the same magnitude as a God," the king frowned, "...The same as Zorc..." he added with anger.

"The Dark One was defeated and destroyed, we will defeat this evil as well," Seto said; his version of an ancient pep-talk.

"I wish I had such confidence, my friend," Atemu smiled weakly.

"When one has too much of a good thing it can be a curse," Mahad raised an eyebrow.

"That is said by the people who have none," Seto smirked.

"Seto," the King cautioned. "We can't afford to bicker amongst ourselves; we need a strategy."

"My king," Mahad began in a much more respectful tone, "Please allow me to lead a group of my most skilled magicians into the desert from whence these serpents came in search of the source of their power."

"It could be a trap," Atemu frowned, "Outside of the city walls you will be very vulnerable."

"We will remain in sight of the city, I only suggest that we collect the blackened dust they left behind," the magician added, "It could contain traces of the magic from which they draw their power."

"The point still stands, Mahad," the king told him.

"With respect; we have few alternatives, Pharaoh."

"Very well," Atemu sighed, "Shada," he turned to the wearer of the Millennium key, "Will you consent to aid Mahad?"

"I will," the man bowed.

"Then I order you both to stay within sight from the city walls, and work as quickly as you can; so let it be written so let it be done," the king told them. Mahad and Shada nodded and bowed, then set off from the room with looks of purest determination to do right by their king.

Pharaoh Atemu's gaze never faulted from the retreating backs of his friends as they left the room and he heard Seto speak once more.

"Let us hope they do not disappoint," Seto said.

"Let us hope that the Gods are on their side," the Pharaoh corrected him sadly. He'd been saddened to learn that even in death his land was not allowed the peace that he, his father and his friends had sacrificed so much for. Indeed, his father, Aknamkanon, paid for it still with his very soul which remained sealed to keep the spirits from Kul-Elna at ease. Atemu had tried all in his power to free his beloved father, but he had failed, and he could never forgive himself for it. The Queen Mother, Lady Meskhenet, bless her, never once blamed her son; but that did little to ease his conscience.

Like her husband and her son, she too possessed powerful magic and she was a fearsome warrior, she was also a healer, a poet and a scholar, but she loved nothing more than training in the art of the sword. When she told her son stories of how she and his father had trained together as children it brought up his guilt all over again; of course the stories weren't meant to raise his guilt so he tried not to let it show.

She, like her son, was also very worried about the attacks on their people, and she, like Atemu, had no idea what they should do. While Atemu continued in the throne room with the remaining guardians, and as Shada and Mahad started out with a group of magicians and guards, Meskhenet was sat in the palace archives alone. She read page after page of dusty old papyrus scrolls but still she was confused and vexed by this mystery.

Meskhenet sighed deeply and stretched out her slender and well-toned arms in exhaustion. She, unlike many women of fashion did not wear a crimped, black wig, instead her hair was real and long, it was mostly of black with fringes of gold and deep violet, which her husband had always 'blamed' for passing it onto their child. Her long hair draped over her dress of finest white cotton and her arms and fingers were shimmering with gold jewels which caught the sunlight beautifully.

But for now, she was not in the sunlight; she was sitting deep in the secure vaults under the palace reading the most sacred texts by lamp light and it was beginning to make her eyes ache. Meskhenet moved aside another unhelpful scroll across the desk with had long since been buried under the mountain of papyrus. It was time for a breath of fresh air, so, she stood from the desk and began to carefully secure the scrolls she had used back in their original positions.

"Guards," she called and within a second, several armed men ran to answer her.

"Yes, my lady," one said.

"No one enters this vault," she told him, rather unnecessarily; there were always men on guard around the vaults and no one entered without Pharaoh's permission. But, after a long shift in the dark in silence, Meskhenet, a kind soul, was sure that even the briefest, most unnecessary exchange was welcome.

"Yes, my lady," he nodded and stood to attention as she magically locked the gates to the vaults. She then started down the long corridor and towards the seemingly never ending staircase that led back up towards the palace, with a small light as her only companion through the darkness.

* * *

(*1) Duat is one of the names the Ancient Egyptians had for the Afterlife / Underworld.

(*2) Nubia was the ancient land known as Kush. The ancient Land of Punt originally encompassed what is now known as Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Sea People were a real collection of mixed races; I didn't just make up all of these countries, but I did make up the names for the kings.

(*3) Apep is the literal embodiment of fear and evil for the Ancient Egyptians, and each night when the soul of the dead Pharaoh was said to make the sun's journey from the west and rising again in the east, Apep the snake was waiting to destroy him. If the sun didn't rise, it meant the king had lost to him. Also in the Egyptian afterlife, there is supposed to be a Pit of Fire in which the damned burn for eternity.

* * *

A.N. This is a plot I came up with several years ago, but I never got round to writing it out, but, finally, I've decided to do so. This will take a lot from Egyptian Mythology and religion, but I have altered a few things to suit my plot.


	2. There Goes the Sitting Room

Apep and the Sacred Scrolls of Duat.

Chapter 2: There Goes the Sitting Room.

* * *

Yugi was dozing in his sitting room, draped over one of the sofas with one short leg dangling over the edge he stared listlessly at the TV. His friends Joey, Tristan and Duke were lying in similar, informal positions around the room, both on the furniture and on the floor, with empty bowls and plates littering the tables and the floor around them. He was actually very tired and he wanted to sleep, but Joey was adamant that they should stay up and watch TV. The girls had wanted to sleep, and one didn't mess with tired females, so the boys had retreated to the downstairs sitting room and set up shop there several hours ago.

"Boring," Joey yawned, "What else is on?"

"...Nothing...rerun...seen it...boring...rerun...rerun..." Tristan listed as he started to change the channel in rapid succession.

"Gah! Why does TV hate me?!" Joey sat up as he yelled out loudly, ruffling his already messy blond hair.

"Keep it down, Wheeler!" they heard Teà shout from the first floor of the building. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Doesn't sound like you're trying very hard," Joey mumbled quietly as he flopped back down into his pile of blankets and cushions on the floor.

Joey's sister, Serenity, and their friend Rebecca were also staying at their little sleep over at Yugi's but, on Teà's advice they were upstairs rather than staying up at ungodly hours eating boring TV reruns. Yugi was beginning to think she had the right idea; his grandpa would throw a fit if he knew about the mess they'd made and how late they were up, but Yugi did plan on cleaning up in the morning. Fortunately, Solomon Mutou had left earlier that morning for another dig in Egypt with his old friend Professor Hawkins, so he'd never see said mess.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep," Yugi yawned and closed his eyes.

"No, man, it's not even midnight yet," Joey complained.

"It will be in about a minute," Duke sighed, "Then can we sleep?"

"You wimps," Joey frowned.

"Sorry, dude," Tristan sighed, as he tossed the remote to his friend, "It's official; sleep really is the only choice left."

"Mmm...that's good..." Yugi smiled and pulled the old quilt over his head, "...Night, guys..." Of course, it had long escaped his notice, but all of them were still wearing their clothes rather than pyjamas, but Yugi was too tired to care.

"You're out voted, Joey," Duke nodded. "The girls say sleep, lil' guy says sleep, I say sleep, and Tristan says sleep."

"Ah," Joey sighed, "Fine," he shook his head and turned off the TV, "But tomorrow I chose what we're doing."

"Just so long as its not trying to eat the burger place outta business," Tristan grinned.

"Or runnin' after Kaiba again so you can lose at another duel," Duke grinned.

"Shut it, dice boy!" Joey cried back, waving his fist angrily at his friend.

Yugi chuckled as he remembered the last duel between Joey and Kaiba that had taken place about a month ago, and even the rich CEO had had to admit; Joey was a good duellist...but he still lost to Kaiba. To Yugi, it seemed as though Kaiba had made peace with all of the strangeness that had happened, including his own ancient past, and he had become less aggressive and arrogant towards them. Of course, the young CEO still took every opportunity to challenge Yugi to duels, but Yugi looked forward to them; Kaiba pushed him to be the best duellist he could possibly be like the Pharaoh had done before him, and Yugi was sure that he encouraged Kaiba to improve his own skills as well.

But that wasn't to say that Yugi didn't miss the Pharaoh. He missed his best friend all the time, but knowing what the spirit must have endured, trapped alone for 3,000 years, he knew he'd made the right choice; he couldn't condemn his friend to that again because of his selfishness. Atemu deserved to be free after all he'd done, in life and in death for the human race, and to expect the Pharaoh to remain behind would be nothing short of cruel.

After the museum exhibit containing the Pharaoh's burial possession and mummified body had finally left the city, it took with it all that was left for Yugi to cling onto of his first ever friend. (*1) Now he had nothing but his memories and sometimes they were enough to get by on...and other times they weren't, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. He would always miss Atemu, but Yugi's life went on, and he was determined to make the most of it. In the past few months he'd been in several tournaments, making major tv appearances in doing so, and unlike the start of his school life which had consisted mainly of hiding away, now he was always in a crowd of his friends...friends he had found because of the Pharaoh.

...Friends that were now arguing with each other about why Joey shouldn't challenge Seto Kaiba to a duel again anytime soon.

"...He's the CEO of a major company!" Duke frowned.

"Yeah, so he needs a good dose o' reality now and then!" Joey retaliated.

"From you?" Tristan chuckled.

"Who else?"

"Guys," Yugi sighed, "Knock it off."

"But I..." Joey began.

"But he..." said Tristan and Duke at the same time as Joey.

"Guys," Yugi repeated.

"Fine," Joey muttered, "We'll continue this intellectual conversation in the mornin'."

"Oh joy," Tristan sighed as he punched his pillow and then threw his head down on it.

"Hey, Yug," Joey yawned.

"Hmm?"

"Y'think...nah...never mind...I'm goin' t'sleep...night."

"M'kay..." Yugi mumbled, too tried to enquire further which he would've done if he was more awake.

Just as they were winding down, Yugi suddenly felt a wave of cold air run past him and his spine tingled as he sat up and threw off the quilt under which he'd previously buried himself under. His tiredness now forgotten, he looked around the room, which was now in darkness, but which looked perfectly ordinary.

"What's up, Yug?" Joey asked him, looking up at his friend curiously.

"I...I don't know," Yugi frowned, "Something just doesn't seem right."

"How d'you mean?"

"It's just weird..."

"Well, what's it..." Joey began, but he broke off when the ground suddenly started shaking violently. "Wha?!" Joey yelled indignantly as he tumbled off the sofa, "What's the deal?" he muttered as he rubbed his aching head.

"...I dunno..." Tristan said, sounding equally put out. He had been tossed around on his makeshift mattress of blankets as the ground continued to quake.

They heard thunder clapping loudly outside and Yugi shot up onto his feet and he ran across to the closest window, throwing open the curtains. Then, he gasped in shock and horror and his whole body froze to the spot.

"Erm...guys..." Yugi spoke slowly, "I think we've got a problem..." he added, still clutching the soft fabric of the curtains in his shaking hands.

"What? Is it the Feds? Did gramps skip out on his taxes?" Joey suggested but when Yugi didn't laugh he sobered at once. He stood from the floor and walked over to his friend, then he pried the curtains from one of Yugi's hands and turned to look. "Whoah...d'at's...not the Feds..." he said, "Tristan, Duke..."

The ground was now toning down the quakes and within seconds the shaking had stopped completely, and Tristan saw this as reason enough to simply lie back down and close his eyes again. "Tristan!" Joey repeated.

"Hmm?" he murmured.

"Get over here," Joey ordered with a shaking voice.

Tristan grumbled under his breath but he slowly got up and made his way to the window and he too looked out into the night. He blinked once just to make sure he wasn't dreaming and then he rubbed his eyes, then he jumped back from the window and fell onto the floor, "Whoa..." he cried, "...No way..."

"Yes way," Yugi narrowed his eyes in fear.

"M...maybe they're just holograms..." Joey stuttered.

"What's goin' on? Did we just have an earthquake?" Duke looked around, his head jolting from side to side quickly.

"...Not quite," Yugi said, still staring out the window.

"Then, does someone wanna fill me in?" Duke asked as he walked over to Yugi with a yawn.

"See for yourself," Yugi stood aside, giving Duke full view out the window.

"Hmm..." Duke hummed as he blinked. "Holy dice dungeons!" he cried.

"Yeah..." Yugi sighed as he stared out into the night.

In the dimly lit streets, amidst the flickering street lamps stood hundreds upon hundreds duel monsters of all shapes and sizes and colours and designs. They weren't attacking or doing anything to cause alarm, but they were all had their mouths open as though screaming in fear or agony at the heavens, and yet there was no sound to be heard.

"Are...are they...real?" Duke muttered.

"They look pretty real to me," Tristan exclaimed.

"They could still be holograms!" Joey yelled.

"Well, I won't hold my breath after everything we've been through," Duke told his friend.

"I thought all that was...y'know...over with now...'cos...well...y'know..." Joey stumbled over his words inelegantly. It had been wordlessly agreed upon not to mention Atemu unless it was unavoidable because the wounds were still far too fresh for them even after the sort of closure they had after his resting place had been uncovered.

"Me too," Yugi agreed sadly. He truly had thought all the weirdness was gone for good now that the soul of the Pharaoh was gone, and indeed, over the last nine months nothing unusual, inexplicable or anything remotely magical had happened at all...unless one counted Kaiba adopting his version of a 'nice' attitude to the group, that is.

"Guys, did you see..." Teà began loudly and with urgency as she, Serenity and Rebecca ran down the stairs and into the sitting room, all wearing their pyjamas.

"Yeah...we see 'em..." Joey answered her when they entered the room.

They watched from the window as the duel monsters continued their silent cries and from on high, a blinding, golden light illuminated the darkness. It bathed the streets in pure golden rays, like a huge sun in the middle of the night, it lightened even the darkness alleyway. The light was of such magnitude that it could probably be seen all over the world and then, from this light, stepped the mighty Obelisk the Tormentor. He floated above the city and roared down at the monsters below as Slifer the Sky Dragon, in all its glory, flew out beside him with an ear-piercing cry of fury from its second mouth.

Finally, the light brightened as the winged Dragon of Ra flew over both of the two Gods, letting out a ferocious and shrill battle cry before it burst into flames. It sent the flames across the sky with a flap of its huge wings, and Obelisk and Slifer attacked in opposite directions, illuminating the sky further with attacks of red and blue.

"I don't suppose you're doing that, are ya, Yug?" Joey said in awe.

"Nope," Yugi shook his head unnecessarily.

"Then who is?" Teà breathed.

"Just what **are** they doing?" Rebecca muttered to herself as she watched the God monsters seemingly attack the sky.

"I dunno..." Yugi answered.

"I hope they're on our side," Tristan said quietly.

"Come on, it's the Egyptian Gods," Joey grinned, "Of course they're on our side."

"Last time I checked, I wasn't Egyptian," Duke muttered under his breath.

"Can it, Duke," Joey snapped.

"What'd you think they're doin', Yug?" Tristan asked him but Yugi shook his head.

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied the young champion duellist.

"...Y'don't think...d'at maybe...y'know...the Pharaoh..." Joey said tentatively.

"How could he?" Tristan frowned, "He's dead!"

"He was dead when we met him, you moron!" Joey shouted back but then he bit his tongue, "I mean...er..."

"I know, Joey," Yugi sighed, "But even if he could, I don't know...ah...I wish I knew what was going on."

"Here here," Duke nodded as the Gods now stopped their assault on the sky.

Now the entire skyline seemed to be shine with the force of the Gods, and small droplets of beautiful gold began to rain down from above. As the droplets came into contact with the duel monsters, the creatures started to fade, as though someone was wiping them away with their hand from a picture made in coloured sand. This phenomenon occurred simultaneously across the globe and the rain had this effect only on the creatures.

One by one, they slowly vanished and then, when the final duel monster was gone, the three Gods let out a final cry of victory and they started to shine a bright gold once more and they too were gone in a matter of seconds. Then the whole street reverted back to the nighttime darkness as though nothing at all had happened.

"What...exactly...was that?" Teà whispered.

"Erm...a free light show?" Tristan shrugged.

"You'd think we'd be used to weird stuff by now, right, Yug?" Joey smiled at his friend.

"Mm," Yugi nodded.

"...Joey...I can hear something..." Serenity whispered as she edged closer to her brother.

"What?" he asked her, curiously.

"It sounds...like snakes," the young woman answered.

"Snakes?" Rebecca repeated and listened carefully, "Hey, you're right...I hear it too."

"Me three," Duke nodded.

Suddenly they were all startled as a darkness, somehow visibly different from the natural shadow of night started to seep in from the walls and from the floor and the ceiling as though it was leaking in from outside.

"What's going on?" Serenity asked, frightened.

Then, right in the room, the shadows started to take shape and the atmosphere grew increasingly colder and darker until they merged into an almost solid form of a large snake; a huge black serpent with thousands of others surrounding it and slithering over its massive body with loud hisses and snarls. This snake seemed to bring the very darkness with it and despite the lights in the room, everything seemed blanketed in eerie shadows.

"What the hell is that?" Joey yelled as he backed away, careful to keep his sister behind him as he moved.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look too friendly," Duke gulped.

"Run!" Yugi cried and they turned to flee from the room, but before they even reached the door, the whole room disappeared into shadows.

The walls, the door, the windows, the floor, the furniture and the lights in the room were all gone, leaving only a void of shimmering shadows that seemed to dance with shade of purple and grey. It was impossible to touch, but it seemed to stretch on forever, "This looks like a shadow game," Yugi whispered.

"Oh no," Serenity gasped as Joey moved closer to her to wrap an arm around her.

"What'd we do now?!" Joey asked his best friend.

"I..." Yugi frowned, but he honestly didn't know. All the times he'd seen the shadows before he'd never been the one to fight them; he couldn't use shadow magic even if he had the Millennium Puzzle, only the Pharaoh could use its power. But both the spirit and the item were long gone, and the teens were powerless in the face of the magical shadows.

From the never ending darkness there shone two black eyes which somehow stood out from the rest of the darkness, and they seemed to be amused at the fear of the teenagers. "What are you, and what d'you want from us?" Yugi asked it with as much confidence as he could muster. But, unsurprisingly he received no answer as the hissing sounds continued from the snakes.

"What're they sayin'? I don't speak snake..." Joey frowned and he felt his sister tighten her grip around his arm in fear.

"I doubt it's anything good," Tristan muttered.

"We gotta get outta here," Joey said.

"How?!" Teà snapped, "We don't even know how we got 'here' in the first place...whoa..." she broke off in shock as some of the snakes slithered around her feet. "Why'd it have to be snakes?!" she cried and tried to kick the creatures off her feet, but there were too many of them so they just kept coming.

Swiftly, the whole number of the snakes made towards the teens, and with no where to go, they were instantly knee deep in writhing serpents as they struggled and screamed.

"Joey!" Serenity cried as the snakes engulfed her torso and she held up her arms as they continued to climb.

"Serenity!" Joey yelled, "Stupid snakes! Get off'a me!" he screamed as he struck at the creatures with his hands and feet in vain. It felt as though the snakes were wrapping around his limbs tightly enough to stop the blood flow in his legs and it was becoming impossible to move.

Yugi winced as he tired to break free, but try as he might, there were just to many of the slippery little enemies for him to get any ground, and being shorter than his friends, while they still had head room, his was almost gone. He couldn't ever remember being afraid of snakes, but an ordeal like this would be enough to give anyone nightmares to last a lifetime. Yugi, breathed heavily as his view was completely overtaken by snakes and he was completely engulfed in the darkness.

"Yugi!" Duke exclaimed as he watched his friend disappear completely into the sea of snakes.

"Oh man, Yug!" Joey grunted as he too was now buried snakes up to his neck and soon his nose and then his whole body was submerged. It was a horrible feeling; almost like being trapped in the shadow realm but not it wasn't quite the same. Somehow, this felt even more evil than the realm of shadows and they were all powerless to escape. The last thing Joey could remember thinking, aside from anger at himself for failing to help his friends, his sister, or himself, was something along the lines of...if only the Pharaoh was here.

Once the teens had vanished completely, the shadows disappeared as quickly as they had arrived and the largest serpent growled in triumph. The sound echoed throughout the night and across each continent of the world as everything returned to normality once more...save for the disappearance of seven teenagers.

* * *

(*1) I set this as a sort of sequel to my one shot 'Loose Ends'. You don't necessarily need to have read it first though. Basically, it's just my idea of the museum exhibit of the Pharaoh's burial treasures after his tomb is found in tact, including his body, by Mr Mutou and Prof Hawkins.


	3. Sinister Serpents in Shadows

Apep and the Sacred Scrolls of Duat.

Chapter 3: Sinister Serpents in Shadows.

* * *

Deep inside the palace of Pharaoh Atemu lay a private temple; it was heavily guarded at all times and used only by the High Priests of the Temples, the sacred Guardians, and by the King himself. It was made of flawless stone, with no windows and only a single closed door. There were tall, elegant pillars and beautifully cared statues of old gods while at the centre of the far wall was the most grand statue of them all, a golden deity which caught the flickering light from the torches which lined the room, burning with bright flames.

The room was also, at the present time, very much devoid of life; not a single soul was inside the private shrine...until the shadows started forming. A wisp of shadow in the shape of a serpent slithered through the air, appearing from out of the ethers, it coiled around the pillars and the torches, snuffing out each light one by one. Then, it moved across to the grand statue of Amun and finally it wormed its way around his feet and up his ankles, then round his torso and it squeezed his neck with deep hatred as though expressing a strong wish to do the same to the real thing.

With the room in total darkness now, the shadows multiplied and the floor was soon a slithering mass of sinister serpents. They squirmed over each other as they hissed about the room, their numbers continuing to multiply rapidly. There was a loud growl and suddenly, the smaller serpents froze in their movements and they started to worm away from the centre of the room, leaving behind the solid forms of six humans.

As these humans emerged lying on the ground, as though simply sleeping, the shadows decreased in numbers and soon, with one last, low hiss, they were, all of them, gone. The teens then began to stir and wince at the hard floor on which they now found themselves.

"Oh man," Tristan sighed as he pushed himself off the floor, "What hit me?" He grimaced and turned his head around the room with confusion, "Er...guys, where'd Yugi's house go?"

"Wha?" Yugi furrowed his brow as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness.

As the others also stood up, they too were beginning to clearly see that their new surroundings were not familiar to them.

"Is this a dream?" Duke asked.

"Not unless we're in the same one," Teà answered, "And, I can't say I've ever dreamt about an old Egyptian temple...or whatever this is."

"It's a temple alright, guys," Yugi said; he'd seen enough of them from photos his grandpa had given him to know a temple when he was in one. Alright he'd never seen one so well preserved...and he was pretty sure his grandfather hadn't either.

"And...How did we get into an old Egyptian temple? Rebecca frowned.

"Well...this could still be a dream..." Tristan hoped. He walked across to Joey and pinched his friends' nose.

"Ah!" Joey grunted, not expecting Tristan's action, "What's d'at for?!"

"Oh man, it's really not a dream, is it?"

"Get off 'a me!" Joey yelled, swatting his hands at Tristan.

"Joey," Serenity panicked, "Where are we? What happened?"

"Well..." he began slowly, "I...erm...Yug...What happened?"

"Erm..." Yugi hummed and walked across to the grand statue of the Egyptian God Amun. "I don't know...maybe we..."

"Oh boy," Joey relied, "Y'don't think..."

"Yeah..." Yugi nodded.

"What?" Rebecca asked.

"At least we won't have to worry about Joey eating the burger joint outta business any time soon," Duke said under his breath to conceal his own concern.

"What d'you..." Serenity began.

"I don't wanna live in the desert!" Joey yelled over his sister, and his voice echoed off the stone walls.

Just then, the door at the end of the room swung open and a group of men, all armed, well-muscled and wearing Egyptian kilts ran through the doorway. Following them was a man wearing a long robe and the gold he wore ,asked him out as a man of status. "Wha...it's Kaiba again!" Joey shouted as he pointed over to priest Seto.

"Restrain them at once," the man ordered the guards who quickly obeyed.

"Serenity!" Joey yelled, "Hey, let her go!" he shouted at the guard now restraining his sister.

"Silence. How did you enter the sacred temple undetected?" Priest Seto demanded of them.

"Erm...well...we..." Yugi stuttered.

"Well?!" Seto demanded as a woman walked through into the room. She was wearing a long, fitted dress and a headdress which was decorated at the forehead with the Millennium eye symbol.

"It's erm...complicated..." the young duellist smiled nervously and he saw that this woman wore the Millennium necklace.

"You offer no excuse for your crimes," the priest continued, "Take them to the dungeons," Seto commanded the guards.

"Wait," the woman said, "Let us bring them before the Pharaoh; given the present circumstances, of course."

"Yeah," Joey nodded eagerly as he tried to work his way from out of the strong grip of the guard holding him back, "The Pharaoh'll tell ya he knows us!"

"You dare presume a familiarity with the great Pharaoh!" priest Seto hissed.

"Nice one, Joey," Tristan shook his head.

"Guards..." Seto began.

"Wait, I see no danger from them," Isis said, silencing him. Her hands were raised before the Millennium necklace which was now glowing golden, "They did not come here intending harm to the Pharaoh."

"Why did you not foresee their coming?" Seto asked her and she shook her head.

"I cannot answer that," she sighed, "But it's strange, from all that I can see...they should not be here."

"That much is plainly obvious, Isis."

"No, what I mean is; they should not be here," she repeated more forcefully and lowered her hands from the Millennium item, "There are other forces at work here; familiar forces."

"You cannot mean..." Seto narrowed his eyes at her and she inclined her head. "Very well," he sighed and turned to the guards, "We will bring them before the Pharaoh."

"Yes, sir," they nodded and began leading the teens forwards.

"You're gonna regret this, ya Kaiba double!" Joey yelled at the priest, "The Pharaoh's gonna have you on cleanin' duty...ah!" he grunted after the guard restraining him pulled on his arm forcefully.

"Silence," priest Seto commanded as they entered a stunning room of gold.

The floor was polished to perfection in a deep golden brown and the walls shone in perfect gold with coloured pillars spaced equally down the entire length of the space. At the centre of the far wall was the magnificent golden throne, on either side of which was a sacred eye of Horus in flawless lapis lazuli, protecting the power of the Pharaoh. But the king was, as yet, absent from the throne as the guards led the teens forwards towards into the earth of the room. Each of them was still held back by a guard and then the two priests, Isis and Seto went to stand before the throne the former on the left and the latter to the right.

Then, almost instantly four other men arrived, one Yugi noted looked remarkably like his grandfather wearing a tall blue hat bearing the sacred eye while another man was well muscled with a typical wig of straight black hair and he and carried the Millennium scale in his hand. The third man was bald with a curious, symmetrical pattern on his forehead and he bore the Millennium key. Finally, the remaining man, Yugi thought, rather looked like the Dark Magician with the same angled face and narrowed eyes. He wore a curious headdress and his shoulders were shielded across the back with polished gold.

All of these four men walked silently to stand round the throne, save the smaller older man with the tall hat who walked up the few steps to stand at the right hand of the gold throne. The guards had moved the teens to stand right in front of the priests, and looking up at the throne was extremely intimidating.

There were a further two guards stood before a huge, polished gong to the side of the room, and one swung at it with a mallet creating the characteristic, reverberating 'crash'. In an open space of this size and grandeur the sound served to create an intimidating impression, and it also served to, more obviously, herald the arrival of the King himself.

The guards restraining the teens didn't allow them to turn around as they heard a 'swoosh' of fabric, which was the deep red curtains being pulled back for the King to enter and they saw the priests in front of them bow deeply.

The Pharaoh's view of the teens was blocked by the guards restraining them as he moved slowly through the room. He had come expecting merely more people complaining about something or other, and he had more important things to worry about than another matter of stolen goods. There had been quite a number of those lately because of the chaos, and their idea was that by bringing the thieves before the king, others would think twice before repeating the offence. But it was tiring; not that he didn't care about those issues, but right now, Atemu was sure that his guardians could handle this while he continued his study of the scrolls.

"Bow before the Pharaoh," he heard the guards command their prisoners and said prisoners exhaled in shock as they were forced to their knees.

As the King ascended the steps to his throne he turned round to sit down and after he did so, he blinked in confusion in a very un-king-like manner. "...Yugi?" he choked, momentarily forgetting himself. Atemu the great Pharaoh was sat motionless as he stared across at his friends, his friends that had been born 3,000 years after him were now present in the afterworld. They were held down like common criminals by his royal guard in his own palace.

"My king," he heard Shimon say in shock as the man moved the blue veil from his mouth, "You know these people?"

"I...yes I do," the King said, "Release them," he ordered at once.

"But, my king..." Seto began to object.

"I said, release them!" he repeated, "Guards," the King narrowed his eyes at the men.

"Yeah," Joey sighed, "You heard the man," he said as the guards bowed before stepping away from them, "Hey, man," he then smiled up at his friend who was still leaning forwards, motionlessly.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" Tristan asked curiously as they got up off their knees.

"I..." Atemu frowned. He wasn't sure whether this was real or just a trick, perhaps it would've been wiser to ascertain that before commanding his guards to free them, but with such a shock, thinking logically was difficult even for a king. But he needed to be sure that this was not one of the serpents' tricks, so he stood from his throne and walked slowly down to where they stood. He began to circle them and his Millennium puzzle began to glow as his dark blue cape followed his movements gracefully.

"Pharaoh..." Seto began.

"Erm...what're you doing?" Yugi asked him nervously. The look he saw in his friends' eye was not a reassuring one; in fact it was quite threatening. Then, a second later, Atemu reached out a tanned and bejewelled hand and rested it on Yugi's shoulder. The unnerving look of determination vanished from his eyes at once then and the puzzle stopped glowing.

"...Nothing," Atemu answered.

"I don't think I remember seeing you this speechless before," Yugi smiled slowly up at him.

"Your informality before the King of Egypt is..." Seto began.

"Seto," Atemu sighed, "These are no enemies; they are dear friends and they have my deepest respect."

"I apologise, Pharaoh," the priests' attitude altered immediately as he bowed before the king. "I did not know," he said.

"No apology is necessary; you are not to blame," the king said, "I told you nothing of them, after all."

"Forgive my interruption, Pharaoh," Isis said respectfully, "But...how is it you came to know these people?" She has no idea who these people were but from the strange, fragmented visions she had been given by her Millennium necklace when she tried to ascertain why she hadn't seen them entering the palace; she knew for sure that they were most definitely not supposed to be in this world.

"I'm afraid that it's a rather long story, Isis," the King answered. "I will, of course inform you in due time, however," he turned to the teens, "More importantly - not that your appearance is in any way unwelcome...just how did you get here?"

"One word, pal," Joey shuddered, "Snakes...lots and lots of snakes."

"Hundreds of 'em," Duke nodded.

"Serpents?" Atemu frowned.

"My king," Shimon exclaimed, "Could this be the work of..."

"I...pray not," Pharaoh said, "But it is most probable. Tell me what happened before you arrived here," he said to them.

"Well," Yugi began, "First we saw duel monsters all over the street."

"Then we saw the Egyptian Gods," Serenity added.

"And then we were buried by snakes," Rebecca finished.

"How...unusual," priest Karim tilted his head to one side.

"If we are to be on the same side I believe we would all do well if we were properly acquainted, my king," Shimon said from beside the king's throne.

"Huh?" Joey muttered in confusion.

"Of course you are right, Shimon," the king nodded; after being cooped up with only the sacred scrolls for company for the past several hours it was difficult to think straight again, especially after such a shock. He shook his head tiredly and held back a yawn as he spoke again, "Yugi, Teà, Serenity, Joey, Duke, Tristan, allow me to introduce my royal priests and most loyal friends, Seto

Shimon, Mahad, Isis, Shada and Karim," he said, each priest nodding in turn.

"...Hey..." Yugi replied uncertainly as he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. He couldn't help but notice how nervous his friends looked as well and he was relieved that he wasn't the only one; after all, this was a little formal for their tastes.

"So...if you know how we got here..." Teà began slowly.

"Yes, I'm afraid we know very well," Atemu nodded but he turned away from them to observe the other guards and courtiers in the room. "Come with me, all of you," he said before leading them and his priests from the room. "Where is Mana?" he asked Isis.

"I believe she is within the stone sanctuaries, my king," she said.

"Would you be so good as to locate her and return to my chambers," he told her and she nodded before going her separate way.

"Mana's here?" Yugi asked him.

"Of course," Atemu answered him as they walked.

"You know Mana?" Mahad turned to Yugi.

"Yeah...it's...it's complicated," Yugi sighed and fortunately for him, the magician didn't enquire further.

They continued to move through the palace, walking across grand , open courtyards where the sunlight streamed down unhindered, beating down onto the ground and making the pools of water dance in the light. They walked through long corridors lined with pillars and beautiful stone carvings and they saw people looking very content even if they were working about the place.

Finally, they came to the Pharaoh's private chambers, which were, of course, heavily guarded with men and with magic at every door and every wall. It was a lavish area of even more exquisite craftsmanship and an even larger abundance of gold than even the throne room itself could boast.

The king's inner sitting area was filled with striking colours of blue and green and red on the plush carpets and pillows and cushions that littered the place. These colours contrasted with the sandy colour of the walls and the pillars, but these were of course highly decorated to an extremely high standard.

"Whoa..." breathed Joey, Duke and Tristan simultaneously on entering the room. They ran forwards and started to examine everything with envious eyes and the king quickly told them all to take a seat somewhere.

"To keep things brief," the king began, looking at his guardians who were eying the modern teens with a mix of both curiosity and confusion. "I will say that they have my complete trust and respect; they were instrumental saving mankind from the Zorc."

"But, my king," Isis said, "They are not...they do not belong here...they have not passed."

"No, they have not," the king nodded.

"Then how can they still be here?" Karim asked, "The Gods support the souls of those passed, surely they would not allow others here."

"I must agree with Karim," Seto said, "This could prove to be a difficult problem."

"I know," the king nodded but he said nothing further on the subject.

"So..." Yugi began, "We're not supposed to be here...why are we here then?"

"Yeah, an' why the snakes?" Joey shuddered.

"You're not the only ones with a serpent problem," Mahad as where'd cryptically.

"For several days now, the city has been attacked by the serpent creature..." Atemu began.

"All this trouble 'cos of one 'lil snake?" Joey scoffed and Teà suddenly felt the need to face-palm at Joey's look of amused confidence amidst the seriousness of the priests.

"The great serpent Apep," Shimon corrected, "And he is not to be mocked; he possesses a power to rival the gods themselves."

"So did Zorc, right?" Joey shrugged.

"Yes, but the serpent has one terrible ability which Zorc did not," Atemu frowned.

"What's that?" Yugi asked.

"He steals souls," Shada said gravely.

"He steals..what?" Duke blinked.

"The souls of those passed; he can steal them," Karim answered, "It takes the life force of humans, animals, and monsters; although where they go, we know not."

"That is why you saw duel monsters in your world," the king said, "They were trying to escape its wrath anyway they could."

"So...why the Egyptian Gods?" Yugi asked.

"I had to call the others back; I couldn't let them simply run loose over time and space, could I?" Atemu replied.

"Their fear is understandable; when one is taken by the serpent, one's entire record is simply erased," Shimon said.

"Their 'record'?" Yugi repeated.

"Their soul, their presence and their name," Isis began, "They just...cease to be."

"How can you record everyone who's ever...y'know?" Tristan asked. He was suddenly reminded of the evil Oricalchos and the huge room the brainwashed Dartz had once covered with the souls of his victims.

"We do not," Mahad said, "The Gods record their name in magically protected scrolls, and only the king is permitted to touch them."

"Which is why this is so troublesome," Atemu added, "It makes no sense; he takes the souls of my people and I cannot begin to say why," he growled. "If he has the power to enter this world he does not require what little further they could give him."

"We believe he is somehow accessing the same shadow magic as the Millennium items harness when he attacks," Mahad continued, "He cannot have accessed this power alone; he was banished to the Pit of Fire for all time by the Gods themselves at the dawn of time, no one would help him."

"Evidently someone already has," Seto said, "Eluding your magicians' detection in the process, I might add."

"Seto," Atemu frowned just as Isis entered the room with an excitable Mana by her side.

"Hi!" Mana cried happily, running across to Yugi and his friends, "Oh, who are you?" she asked, looking at Duke, Serenity and Rebecca. Yugi quickly introduced them while the sacred guardians watched in a degree of shock that Mana actually knew the others. "So they found you in the temple, huh? I bet the guards didn't like that; they don't let anyone pass."

"Is not the security of the palace your responsibility, Mahad?" Seto asked with a small smile.

"Seto," Atemu sighed again and Mana giggled.

"Pharaoh!" Isis cried, startling everyone in the room. Her Millennium necklace was glowing and she looked suddenly very afraid, "We are under attack," she said with urgency.

"What?" Joey and his friends yelled just as they could hear loud footsteps from the corridors. "Nya! It's them! Run for your lives!" Joey bellowed.

"It's the royal guards," Mana whispered to him with a wide grin. Then of course, she was proven correct when four guards ran into the room, stopping quickly to bow before one of them spoke gravely.

"Pharaoh!" the guards cried, "The shadows...the serpents...they have returned."

"So soon?" Seto frowned as the group of priests regarded each other with fear.

"Mana, stay here with them," Atemu told his friend with a glance in the direction of the modern teens.

"But I..." she began, but the no-nonsense glare which he gave her was enough to stop her, so she simply nodded reluctantly. "Fine," she said, but the looks of disapproval around her peers prompted her to add, "My king," she sounded now, very meek and embarrassed.

"Wait, Pharaoh..." Yugi cried, but it was too late; the king, his guards and guardians were gone from the room.

"What's goin' on?" Duke muttered.

"Weren't you listening?" Mana asked, "We're under attack…from the snake!"

"Y'mean that 'Ap...' what's his name," Joey said.

"It was Apep," Rebecca corrected quickly.

"Yeah, thanks, Becc," Joey nodded.

"Mm-hmm," Mana nodded with a worried frown.

"But...the Pharaoh can beat him...right?" Tristan asked.

"Well, they've done it before, but it gets closer to the walls each time it attacks," the magician explained. "I don't wanna know what it'll do if it gets inside," she said, walking over to the balcony which overlooked the city.

The teens followed her and they watched as the dark shadows seeped over the sand dunes in the distance, moving ever closer to the city with each passing second.


End file.
